Immigration Reform News 2010

A long-promised, bi-partisan U.S. Senate bill aimed at comprehensive immigration reform will be delayed until at least March, according to a lobbyist involved in negotiations over the content of the legislation. “The timeline originally was to have a bill by February,” said Sonia Ramirez, legislative representative for the AFL-CIO. “Now I think they’re shooting at having a detailed outline of the direction they’d like to go in the bill by the end of February.” Once the outline is agreed on, she explained, lawyers will draft the text.

The on-again, off again timetable has disappointed immigration reform advocates. Sen. Charles. E. Schumer (D-NY), Chairman of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, who has been working on an immigration bill with South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham, indicated during the summer that legislation would be introduced last year “I think we’ll have a good bill by Labor Day,” Schumer, told the Associated Press last July. But it never materialized.


Before and after the presidential election, Barack Obama also promised that he would move on immigration reform. But a one sentence mention of the subject towards the end of his state of the union speech on Wednesday seemed more like an obligatory item on a to-do list than a rousing call to action: “And we should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system,” said the President, “to secure our borders and enforce our laws, and ensure that everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nation.” End of subject.

The following day at a press conference, when a reporter asked Schumer about plans for immigration reform, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) jumped in with instructions for the New York Senator: “Chuck, let’s not get into any deadlines,” he cautioned. “”You get into trouble by setting deadlines. It is something we’re committed to do. And we’ll do it as soon as we can.” Schumer was obligingly vague about his plans. “We are making good progress,” he said, explaining that he was having difficulty enlisting support from Republican ranks. “Now, I’ve said all along, even before last Tuesday with the Massachusetts election, that we have to have this bill be a bipartisan bill, two Democrats, two Republicans to introduce it. We’re not there yet. We’re still working on getting our Republicans.” Schumer announced that he had met with former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs, whom he said, without elaboration “is changing his views on immigration.” It was unclear what contribution, if any, Dobbs would make to the immigration debate.

The AFL-CIO’s Ramirez indicated that she and other labor leaders are trying to reach a compromise with business representatives on a complicated section of the bill that would set guidelines to regulate the use of migrant workers on either a temporary or permanent basis. Labor organizations have supported a plan for a new Presidential commission to help establish criteria and calculate labor needs. Business groups have said that they would not accept a commission that could be politicized and not suitably responsive to “market forces.” This issue may seem esoteric, but as legislative efforts to enact immigration reform move haltingly along, the ability of labor and business to agree on the fundamentals of migrant worker programs could make the difference between a viable bill and yet another failed effort to fix the broken system. The recently-introduced House immigration bill advocated most forcefully by Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and championed by many reform advocates is widely seen as basically dead on arrival because of criticisms from the right that it is too migrant friendly.


Labor’s Ramirez suggested that the commission proposal would not be a deal breaker. “In terms of creating a system–let’s put the word ‘commission’ aside–that contemplates economic need and makes decisions on visas based on demonstrated need, that’s attractive to us both [business and labor]. So I think there is lots of agreement on how to move forward.” Ramirez said that labor would want to insist that migrant workers involved in “future flows” be assured worker protections and rights. Labor is also pushing to make sure that recruiters who bring in foreign workers are better regulated. But she made it clear that the commission idea was more of a subject for negotiation than a key demand. “It’s about crafting a system,” she said, “not calling it a ‘commission.’”

Time is not on the side of immigration reformers. As the 2010 midterm elections approach, politicians on the fence are likely to be seen as loathe to embrace such a controversial issue. One influential senator, Patrick Leahy (D-VT), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has suggested a more wary piecemeal approach to immigration reform, rather than one big package. Breaking off chunks and dealing separately with the contentious issues of legalization, enforcement, and “future flows” of migrants may seem like a pragmatic short term approach to immigration but is likely to result in once again postponing the issue. And, if it’s not going to be dealt with in 2010, it’s almost certain to be ignored later on as politicos prepare for the 2012 presidential election year.

Activists for the undocumented Irish were in poor spirits Wednesday in the wake of Republican Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts.

However, as the polls closed last night, a seasoned immigration campaigner told me that immigration reform was by no means dead.

“We always knew we would need support from both sides of the Senate,” she said.

“This just means we have one more vote to pick up.”

Immigration reform needs support from both sides of Congress, and a new survey from America’s Voice shows that the public wants immigration reform.

It’s the politics which keep getting in the way.

Just look at the numbers from the poll which was carried out by the Benenson Strategy for America’s Voice:

89 percent supported increasing security on the U.S.-Mexico border
89 percent supported cracking down on employers who hire illegal immigrants
And then

87 percent supported a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, provided they registered with the government and met requirements like working, paying taxes, and learning English.

An even-bigger statement from the survey showed that the overwhelming majority (67 percent) picked legalization over deportation (28 percent).

The poll asked voters to select one of the two following statements.

“We’d be better off if people in the United States illegally left the country because they’re taking jobs Americans need.”

OR

“We’d be better off if illegal immigrants became legal taxpayers and paid their fair share.
By 67-28, voters chose legalization over deportation.”

Voters were also asked what the government should do with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants.

Again, the overwhelming majority, 66 percent, chose a path to citizenship.

Just 22 percent thought the 12 million should be deported, while 11 percent backed some form of temporary non-citizen visa.

The overwhelming majority, 66 percent, thought the best way to deal with the situation was to require the illegal immigrants to register, meet certain conditions, and then allow them to apply for citizenship.

Immigration reform is only a tough political issue because the politicians make it tough.

Scott Brown’s election is no reason to see immigration reform dumped from the Congressional agenda.

America supports immigration reform. Congress, make it so

Detroit — Immigrants from around the world poured into a church on the city’s southwest side Wednesday to rally for immigration reform.

They came with stories of battling government red tape and separation from loved ones because of the nation’s immigration laws.

The crowd, estimated at more than 600 by organizers, filled the sanctuary of St. Anne’s Church, many waving red, white and blue signs that read “Reform Immigration for America.”

The crowd listened to activists, politicians and others talk about a policy they said was in need of reform.

The Rev. Thomas Sepulveda, the pastor of the church, said people must push to change the nation’s laws. The current immigration system is broken and needs to be overhauled, he said.

“Our families have been waiting too long,” Sepulveda said. “Children who are American citizens are growing up without parents because of our laws.”

Anees Sous, a 46-year-old Hamtramck businessman, sought support from the crowd in his efforts to avoid being deported to Palestine on Jan. 21.

Sous said he has been battling nearly 30 years of government bureaucracy to stay in the U.S. after an issue with a class in the 1980s at Wayne State University led to a problem with his visa. Sous, who came to the United States in 1982 to study electrical engineering, said his daughter has mounted a campaign to collect signatures urging the government to let him stay.

Sous said if he is forced to leave, he will be leaving his wife and six U.S.-born children.

“My youngest son is 7 years old. He needs his father,” said Sous. “This really breaks my heart.”

People were urged to call U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat, to voice their support on the issue.

“The stories we heard tonight really put the urgency into this (issue),” said Chris Michalakis, a speaker at the rally and the political director of the United Food and Commercial Workers Michigan. “This is an urgent issue for our families.”

The rally was part of the Reform Immigration for America campaign that is organizing events across the country. Last month, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act was introduced in Congress.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s ambassador to the United States said Friday he expects immigration reform is unlikely to pass in that country in 2010 because of unemployment and midterm elections.

In an unusually frank assessment, Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan said Mexico will continue its quiet, ”under the radar” lobbying for a reform that would benefit the estimated 11.8 million Mexicans living in the United States. A large percentage are undocumented.

”It’s not that it is unachievable. It is possible, but it will be difficult,” he told a news conference. ”And this year, especially, the conditions … will be particularly difficult.”

”If the (U.S.) economy grows, but there continues to be the unemployment and the job losses that occurred in the United States in 2009, it is politically impossible for the Republicans or the Democrats, as much as they might be interested … to put an integrated immigration reform on the table,” Sarukhan said.

Sarukhan also said past pronouncements on the issue by Mexico may have done more harm than good.

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”Having spoken about it publicly at times in the past … has done a great deal of damage to our countrymen and our allies in the United States,” he said.

Sarukhan said a general amnesty that would automatically legalize undocumented migrants ”cannot be the solution,” because ”the radical conservative wing in the United States would immediately mobilize to torpedo it.”

He said a more realistic goal is a program of temporary work visas and a ”regularization process” — presumably, what has been called ”earned legalization” involving fines or other qualifying factors.

Sarukhan said chances for reform may depend on how much political capital the administration of President Barack Obama has left after the divisive debate over health care.

Daniel Hernandez Joseph, director of overseas citizen protection services for Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department, told reporters that anti-immigration rhetoric ”has permeated in (U.S.) society” and that anti-immigration groups in the United States currently ”feel empowered.”

Hernandez Joseph also said preliminary estimates indicate that 396 people assumed to be Mexican citizens died trying to cross into the United States last year, up from 340 in 2008.

SAN JUAN — Previous attempts to pass comprehensive immigration reform have collapsed under opposing demands from warring factions.

But when an immigration reform bill was introduced earlier this month, it drew broad support from a wide group of parties, said Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-Mercedes. Ninety-three U.S. Representatives have thrown their name behind the bill and business leaders, agriculture groups and others are in favor of reform.

“There is a diversity of support that we’ve never had before” for immigration reform, the Congressman said Wednesday during a meeting with members of La Union del Pueblo Entero at the organization’s headquarters on Business 83 and Cesar Chavez Road. “This is going to be a national effort but we need all the support we can get.”

Hinojosa, one of 92 co-sponsors for the immigration reform bill introduced into the House of Representatives Dec. 15, asked members of LUPE to take an active role in pushing for reform next year, telling them, “We can’t do this without you.”

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, creates a streamlined path to legalization for the nation’s estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants.

The bill seeks to legalize undocumented immigrants by requiring them to register with the federal government, pay a $500 fine, learn English, pass background checks and meet other requirements. They then are eligible for a six-year visa and then a green card.

The bill also sets out tougher penalties for employers who hire illegal workers, creates rules that require foreign investors given U.S. visas to create jobs in this country and adds restrictions on hiring foreign workers.

Multiple immigration reform bills are expected to be filed by early next year in advance of President Barack Obama’s pledge to take up the contentious issue next year.

But the rallying cry behind the effort has already begun.

Martha Sanchez, a community organizer with LUPE, the San Juan-based immigrant advocacy group, said she is asking all supporters of immigration reform to take an active role.

“We wanted this to be a grassroots effort,” she said. “The people who need this need to be involved with it.”

LUPE has taken an organizational role in connecting colonia residents and others who are interested in reform to ways they can help.

The group is setting up phone banks to call members of Congress asking them to support the bill, Sanchez said. It’s also hosting a community forum in mid-January and sending representatives to a state convention on reform in February.

Juanita Valdez-Cox, executive director of the group, said a concentrated push for immigration reform could prevent the effort from failing again.

“We know it’s a long haul,” she said. “But even if it’s a long haul, we need to be in it.”

The punishing battle over healthcare is still unresolved, but the Obama administration is quietly laying plans to take up another issue that could generate even more controversy and political division–a major overhaul of the nation’s immigration system.

Already, senior White House aides have privately assured Latino activists that the president will back legislation in 2010 to provide a road to citizenship for the estimated 12 million undocumented workers now living in the United States.

In a conference call with proponents, White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina, political director Patrick Gaspard and others recently delivered the message that the White House is committed to seeing a substantial immigration bill pass and wants to make sure allies are prepared for the fight.

In addition to the citizenship provision, the emerging plan will stress increased efforts to harden borders to make illegal entry more difficult. But that two-track approach has been rejected in the past by Republicans and other critics who insisted a border crackdown demonstrate its effectiveness before any action on citizenship could be considered.

As recently as the George W. Bush administration, efforts to win congressional approval for coupling the two issues were repeatedly stymied. And whatever proposal Obama eventually puts forward is likely to trigger equally determined opposition, especially with next November’s congressional elections looming.

That makes embracing an immigration bill a significant gamble for the White House, which already has job creation, global warming curbs, and new regulations for financial institutions on the agenda for 2010.

Adding to the difficulty, polls show that the public is far more worried about the 10% unemployment rate and the fragile economy than anything else. By pushing an immigration bill, Obama risks appearing out of step with the everyday worries of the typical voter.

Geoff Garin, a Democratic pollster, said the issue is difficult in virtually any environment.

“We know from a lot of experience that immigration reform has been and can be a very polarizing issue. There are heated differences about whether there ought to be some kind of pathway to citizenship for people who entered the country illegally,” he said.

“And my sense from the public opinion research is people care more about vindicating their position than they do about getting the issue solved.” But the White House has apparently decided to press ahead, with Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano designated to lead the effort. She has begun talking privately with lawmakers in an effort to hash out a strategy.

In an effort to enlist the kind of support from business groups that helped drive its healthcare initiative, the White House has also reached out to the National Restaurant Association, which represents an industry that employs thousands of immigrants, asking if they could be counted on as an ally.

Earlier this year, the new head of the association, Dawn Sweeney, met with Cecilia Munoz, a White House aide involved in the issue, and expressed interest in cooperating.

“It’s an extremely important issue for our members,” Sweeney said. Her association could be a force in exerting grassroots pressure on lawmakers.

As a presidential candidate, Obama vowed to take up immigration in his first year in office. It’s now too late to make good on that commitment.

If they delay once more, Obama and congressional Democrats could anger the Latino voters who came out in force for them in 2008. Exit polls show Obama won two-thirds of the Latino vote in the 2008 election compared to 31% for his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain.

No one anticipates that a core element of the Democratic base will defect to the Republican Party next November. But even a significant drop in turnout – which often happens anyway in non-presidential elections–could frustrate Democratic efforts to preserve their congressional majority.

“The bulk of the people needing immigration reform are Latino,” said U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ). “It was a major motivating issue during the election. … There’s a level of disenchantment about where we’re going. There’s some frustration and disappointment, and if you don’t give the Latino community a reason to participate (in the elections) you weaken your base even more.”

Unlike healthcare, which has played out over most of a year, an immigration bill would be constrained by a tight deadline next year. For a bill to have a realistic shot of passing, political analysts say, the particulars would have to be hashed out and agreed upon by next spring.

Delay would increase the likelihood of the issue getting derailed by the November elections.

Henry Cisneros, a former cabinet secretary in Bill Clinton’s administration who took part in the conference call with the White House, said: “It gets much more difficult as the year goes along. So everyone has to be very sober about the prospects. But the president and congressional leadership understand it’s important to start the ball rolling.”

“It was clear that the administration intends to put this in the first rank of their legislative priorities in 2010,” he said.

An immigration bill was introduced in the House earlier in the month and Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat who chairs a subcommittee on immigration, is heading the effort to cobble together a coalition in the Senate.

Bipartisan support is possible. Schumer’s office said he is working with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to develop a bill and wants Graham to sign on as a co-sponsor. Graham’s office did not return calls for comment.

Democrats may not have a lock on one prominent Republican who wanted to revamp the immigration system in the past: McCain, who backed George W. Bush’s failed attempt to overhaul immigration in the second term. The Arizona senator has not committed to supporting the Obama bill, saying he worries that the president will not endorse a temporary guest worker program.

Organized labor, an important part of the Democratic base, has voiced opposition to a guest worker program under which more immigrant workers could enter the country on a temporary basis. Critics argue that there is no effective system for assuring that such workers leave the country when their entry permits expire.

“From everything that we hear right now, the temporary guest worker program won’t be addressed in immigration reform. And unless that is an essential part of the reform program, it’s something that Sen. McCain can’t work on,” said Brooke Buchanan, a spokeswoman for McCain.

The White House would not reveal its position on the issue of guest workers. A White House spokesman, Nick Shapiro, said in a prepared statement: “The president has asked secretary Napolitano to work with stakeholders and leaders on this issue in the House and Senate to move the legislative process forward on this important issue.”

Should an immigration bill gain traction, White House chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel would likely become a central player in the negotiations. Emanuel has had a long history with the issue.

As a young aide to Bill Clinton, Emanuel co-wrote a memo showing great concern for the political dynamics of immigration. Emanuel and Ron Klain, now the top aide to Vice President Joe Biden, wrote in 1994: “We must be seen as taking proper, forceful steps to seriously address the immigration problem without alienating the Hispanic and civil rights constituencies.

“Our goal is not to out-do the Republicans, rather to use our achievements and proposals to prevent them from using this as a wedge issue against us.” The former head of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Doris Meissner, recalls that she once received a phone call from Emanuel berating her over a news story about lax border enforcement in Arizona.

“This kind of press is killing us,” Meissner recalled Emanuel saying , as he instructed her to send border agents to the area immediately. “He had no authority whatsoever to give me orders,” she said. “My boss was the Attorney General.”

But Emanuel was constantly pressing his White House colleagues to push what he termed a “balanced” immigration policy, which included both enforcement and stepped-up grants of citizenship.

PHOENIX, Arizona — After members of Congress led by Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.) introduced a bill that would allow the legalization of millions of undocumented workers, immigrant communities in Arizona reacted with cautious optimism. In a state that has been at the forefront of hard-line immigration initiatives, the news brought some relief but also questions about the likely fate of those who’ve been swept up in the state’s law enforcement dragnet.

“We’re looking at this very cautiously,” said Antonio Velazquez, director of the Maya-Chapin Organization that represents over 3,000 Guatemalans of indigenous origin in the Phoenix metropolitan area. “We don’t want to be giving people false hopes.”

The bill was introduced Tuesday, and is widely seen as the first step toward what many anticipate will be a divisive immigration debate in 2010. Next year Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is expected to introduce a bill that reflects the Obama administration’s approach to reform.

The Gutiérrez bill, known as the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 (CIR ASAP) includes border enforcement provisions, the strengthening of employer sanctions and the legalization of the undocumented. It would allow undocumented immigrants to attain legal status if they prove that they have been working, pay a $500 fine, learn English and have no criminal record.

News of the bill’s introduction brought a sigh of relief from people under the stress of constant persecution by local police in Arizona
“This feels to me like a magnificent opportunity for all of us to come out into the light, because we’re invisible the way we are,” said Natividad Meza, a 40-year-old undocumented immigrant.

For migrant families in Arizona, where state laws have been used to criminalize the immigrant population, many questions remain. For example, what will happen to people prosecuted for working with false documents? Would they be disqualified from a legalization program?

“I’m fearful because I don’t know what will happen with me,” said Meza, who was arrested for working at a hotel with false documents. She now has a felony on her record and doesn’t know whether it could hurt her chances of achieving legal status.

“It will depend on every individual case,” said Margarita Silva, a criminal defense and immigration attorney.

Silva doesn’t think that this bill –or any other proposals, for that matter– will address the situation of people who became a target of Arizona laws aimed at undocumented immigrants.

“It is very sad, because if we were in another state these people wouldn’t have been prosecuted,” she said. “But because of the politics here they might be excluded.”

Yet Silva applauded the Gutierrez bill as a positive step forward.

“All in all, several sections of this bill are very good,” said Isabel Garcia, director of Coalición de Derechos Humanos, an organization that defends civil rights on the U.S.-Mexico border. One of the key positive elements of the bill is that it doesn’t include a “touchback” provision that would force migrants to return to their country of origin before they can apply for legalization, she said.

Still, Garcia said she was concerned about the enforcement aspects of the proposed legislation, such as the employer-sanctions component.

“We need to talk about the elephant in the room and form a commission that really analyzes the reasons why people have to leave their countries of origin,” said Garcia. Among them, she listed the negative impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on agricultural communities in Mexico.

CIR ASAP includes a DREAM Act component, which would provide for the legalization of undocumented youth who have graduated from high school in the U.S. and are pursuing higher education.

Parents like Francisco Tapia were very upbeat about that aspect of the measure. An undocumented immigrant, he has two children, ages 20 and 21, going to college in Arizona, where costs have tripled for undocumented students.

Tapia is planning to join a march organized by the PUENTE Movement on January 16 calling for immigration reform, respect for human rights and the end of state immigration policies.

“Let’s hope the Congress members listen to Gutierrez,” Tapia said.

Most political observers agree that a whole lot more than listening will be needed to pass this bill during an election year.

“When people ask me about the possibility of immigration reform passing in the next year. I ask them: ‘Do you believe in miracles?’” said Alfredo Gutiérrez, former Arizona state senator and the current editor of the Phoenix-based La Frontera Times site.

Immigration reform promises to generate a more divisive debate than health care reform did, Gutiérrez argued.

Some in the opposite side of the political spectrum agree.

“This could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back with this Obama administration and it will test people’s patience,” said Chris Simcox, a candidate for the U.S. Senate in the Republican primaries against Senator John McCain.

Simcox, the former president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a border watch group, said this is the wrong time to push for reform.

“Americans are out of work and you want to ask the forgiveness of those who are illegally in the country and taking their jobs,” he said.

“I’ll be leading the charge to say this is wrong and we’ll go after everyone who dares vote for this when Americans are hurting for a job.”

Luis Gutierrez Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill Summary
Here is a summary of the Gutierrez bill that was introduced in Congress today:

Comprehensive Immigration Reform for
America’s Security and Prosperity
(CIR ASAP) Act of 2009

TITLE I – BORDER SECURITY, DETENTION, AND ENFORCEMENT

Subtitle A – Border Security:
Subtitle A of Title I assembles a vision of effective and accountable enforcement for the 21st century through maximizing border security by requiring the Secretary of Homeland Security to form a national strategy that is consistent with the progress already made. In order to achieve these goals, oversight and accountability for the Department of Homeland Security is emphasized, especially as they pertain to fiscal appropriations and cost-benefit analyses of operations and programs.

Protecting Our Borders: This subtitle protects United States border cities and communities from violence and crime along the U.S.-Mexico border by:
 Creating a Southern Border Security Task Force that is composed of federal, state, and local law enforcement officers
 Requiring a security plan for land ports of entry at the borders involved in international trade
 Expanding the programs under the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism that is in accordance to the SAFE Port Act
 Improving the exchange of information between federal agencies on North American Security by a conducting a targeted study of security clearance standards, document integrity, immigration and visa management and coordination, terrorist watch lists and smuggling operations

Effective Enforcement: Subtitle A achieves effective enforcement by improving personnel, assets and technology. This section:
 Supports additional training, oversight and evaluation for agents who are the first face of America at the borders
 Ensures that Customs and Border Protection have sufficient personal equipment like body armor, weapons, and uniforms, and that Customs and Border Protection have sufficient assets such as helicopters, power boats, motor vehicles and other electronic equipment
 Promotes standards for searches of electronic devices and appropriate training for agents in conducting such searches
 Minimizes wasteful spending by developing and studying comprehensive uses of advanced technologies, such as aerial and automated surveillance
 Requires an inventory prior to any increase of personnel assets and technology

Securing Ports of Entry: Our nation’s ports of entry are modernized for our economic benefit and security by conducting a study of the infrastructure and operations to identify necessary improvements and projects to enhance border security and the flow of legitimate commerce and travel. This section:
 Improves infrastructure and recalibrates resources and training to allow for more effective screening of commercial goods and individuals so as to minimize threats to national security at ports of entry
 Increases the number of full-time port of entry inspectors, agricultural specialists, and support staff to improve the timely and safe flow of commercial goods and individuals
 Establishes a demonstration project to test and evaluate new port of entry technologies and also refines existing technologies and operational concepts

Combating Criminal Activity: This subtitle recognizes the role of state law enforcement at the border in combating criminal activity by creating border relief grant programs for Northern and Southern border state, local and tribal law enforcement entities. This section:
 Enables better training and technical assistance for state and local partners that deals with narcotics-related kidnapping, drug trafficking and the interdiction of weapons and currency
 Facilitates information-sharing and collaboration between federal and state partners
 Suspends the Operation Streamline program pending review of the goals, impacts and cost-benefit analyses
 Reimburses Northern and Southern border state and local prosecutors for prosecuting federally initiated drug cases
 Provides expanded resources for Operation Armas Cruzadas and Project Gunrunner to identify, investigate, and prosecute individuals involved in the trafficking and smuggling of firearms between Mexico and the United States.

Improving Partnerships: The importance of border communities as partners and allies are recognized as key in achieving effective enforcement by prioritizing community consultation in developing enforcement policies, border protection strategies and training. This subtitle:
 Establishes the U.S.-Mexico Border Enforcement Commission and a Border Communities Liaison Office to foster and institutionalize community consultation
 Prohibits military involvement in non-emergency border enforcement
 Prioritizes mitigating adverse impacts to federal, tribal, state, local and private lands, waters, wildlife and habitats by promoting cross-agency development of comprehensive monitoring and mitigation of ecological and environmental impacts of border security infrastructure and activity
Combating Human Trafficking: Subtitle A requires the development and implementation of a plan to improve coordination amongst federal and state partners to address human smuggling and migrant deaths. This section calls for additional ICE agents dedicated to combating human smuggling are stationed at ports of entry, requires reporting on migrant deaths, and establishes a study of strategies used at the Southern border to address this problem.

Subtitle B – Detention:
Improving Conditions of Detention: The bill requires DHS to meet minimum requirements to ensure the humane treatment of detainees. Minimum requirements include:
 Adequate medical and mental health screenings, evaluations, medically necessary treatment, and continuing care
 A review process for medical treatment requests and complete and confidential medical records
 Reasonable access to telephones, affordable rates, and privacy protections for calls
 Protections from sexual abuse, care for victims, and reports and investigations of abuse
 Protection from transfers that fail to consider health and access to counsel
To ensure compliance with minimum detention conditions, the bill requires rulemaking and enforcement. An independent immigration detention commission is established to investigate and report on compliance. DHS must report the death of a detainee within 48 hours, and report annually to Congress on the circumstances of all deaths in detention.

Protecting U.S. Citizens, Lawfully Present Immigrants, Vulnerable Populations, and Communities: This section increases screening and protections during immigration-related enforcement activities for U.S. citizens, Legal Permanent Residents, others lawfully present in the U.S., and vulnerable populations. Social service agencies, translators, and legal services must be available during enforcement activities. DHS will be required to:
 Issue regulations prohibiting apprehensions at enumerated community, educational, and religious locations
 Provide access to legal orientation programs and access to counsel during enforcement activities and for disabled individuals unable to fully participate in removal proceedings
 Give timely notice and service of immigration charges, as well as timely bond hearings if detained more than 48 hours
This section increases protections for individuals subject to immigration detainers, limits the use of detainers to confirmed removable aliens, and requires DHS to collect data and report on detainer use. The unnecessary detention of refugees is prohibited. DHS is required to report to Congress on the impact of immigration-related enforcement activities.

Improving Secure Alternative to Detention Programs: Criteria are established to guide detention and release decisions and require release for vulnerable populations. Detention decisions must be in writing, served upon detainees, and are subject to redetermination by an immigration judge.

Protecting Family Unity: Families with children may not be separated except in exceptional circumstances where alternatives to detention are not available. Residential, non-penal facilities are developed for any necessary family detention with appropriate protections for children and parental rights. The bill includes safeguards for families and children during immigration-related enforcement actions by:
 Improving child welfare services for children separated from parents and guardians who are in immigration detention or have been removed
 Requiring training for federal and state personnel who interact with separated children and for staff at immigration detention facilities on parental rights, humanitarian, and due process protections
 Ensuring protections for detained parents, guardians, and caregivers in immigration detention to promote access to children, family courts, child welfare services, and consular officials
Protecting Unaccompanied Alien Children: Training is required for DHS employees who encounter unaccompanied alien children. Upon apprehension of an unaccompanied alien child, immediate notice is required by DHS or ORR and transfer to ORR custody within 24 hours.

Subtitle C – Enforcement:
Protecting workers: Provides temporary visas and work authorization for detained workers when they have been retaliated against by their employer for asserting their labor rights and they agree to pursue labor claims against their employer. Also expands U visas to provide for whistleblower protections with regard to worker exploitation, civil rights violations and retaliation for exercising labor rights.

Address Reporting: Clarifies address reporting requirements

Ending Discrimination: Preempts any state or local law that discriminates against an individual based on immigration status or imposes sanctions on any individual or entity based on the immigration status of its clients, employees or tenants

Repeals the 287(g) program: Repeals the 287(g) program and clarifies that the authority to enforce federal immigration law lies solely with the federal government

ICE Ombudsman: Establishes an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Ombudsman

Asylum: Eliminates the arbitrary 1-year bar to applying for asylum

Restores federal jurisdiction: Restores the federal courts of their jurisdiction to review decisions and practices of DHS thereby also restoring the historic role that the courts play in reviewing agency actions

TITLE II – EMPLOYMENT VERIFICATION

This section sets up an employment verification system for employers to verify each new hire’s authorization to work. The new system will eventually apply to all workers and all new hires, and will be rolled out in phases, beginning with critical infrastructure employers and large employers. The employment verification system:
 Creates significant civil penalties for employers who do not comply with the requirements under the new system
 Establishes serious criminal penalties for knowingly hiring unauthorized aliens
 Debars employers who repeatedly violate these provisions from government contracts, grants, and agreements
 Includes privacy safeguards by limiting the data that can be collected and stored in the database and requiring the agencies to develop the system with maximum security and privacy protections
 Requires the agencies to evaluate impact of system from a privacy perspective and complete privacy impact statements
 Prohibits creation of a national identification card
 Includes anti-discrimination provisions. Forbids employers from using the new system to discriminate against applicants or employees on the basis of nationality. Prohibits employers from terminating employment due to a tentative non-confirmation, using the system to screen employees prior to offering employment, or using the system selectively
 Allows an individual to register with the Social Security Administration and acquire a PIN that would allow them electronic access to their file in the system, update their information, and lock their file for purposes of employment

TITLE III – VISA REFORMS

Backlog Reduction and Numerical Limit Reforms:
Reduction of existing backlogs: Permits the “recapture” of unused employment-based visas and family-sponsored visas from fiscal years 1992-2008 and allows future unused visa numbers to roll over to next fiscal year. Immediate relatives are exempted from the annual cap on the number of immigrant visas. This section increases the percentage limit of visas which may be issued yearly to a single country.

Promotion of Family Unity: To recognize family unity principles and facilitate backlog reduction, reclassifies spouses and children of lawful permanent residents as immediate relatives. The government is given greater discretionary authority to waive unlawful presence bars to reunite families upon a demonstration of hardship for applicant’s U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident family members.

Sons and daughters of Filipino World War II veterans: Exempts the sons and daughters of Filipino WWII veterans from the annual numerical limitations.

Immigrants with Advanced Skills Exempt from Visa Cap: Exempts several categories of highly skilled workers from the employment-based immigrant visa cap.

Retaining Workers Subject to the Green Card Backlog: Current nonimmigrant skilled workers whose employer has petitioned for an employment-based green card on their behalf and their dependents will be permitted to file an application for adjustment of status, regardless of whether a visa is immediately available. An applicant under this section must pay a supplemental $500 fee, to be used by DHS for backlog reduction and clearing security background check delays. The Secretary shall provide employment and travel authorization in 3-year increments while the application is pending.

Protection of Children and Families:
Relief for Orphans and Widows: Ensures that surviving spouses and children applying for adjustment of status or naturalization, including spouses and children of asylees and refugees, retain eligibility for waivers and other considerations that would have been available to them at the time of the petitioner’s death. Reform of Cancellation of Removal: Permits immigration judges greater discretion in determining eligibility requirements for long-term lawful permanent residents seeking cancellation of removal. Eliminates prohibitions on including time spent in the United States after becoming inadmissible or being placed in removal proceedings as counting towards continuous presence requirements for cancellation of removal. Protection for Refugees, Parolees or Asylees: Prohibits the removal of any individual who fled his or her homeland for fear of persecution before the age of twelve and was subsequently admitted into the United States as a parolee or refugee or was granted asylum in the U.S. Enhanced Protections for Children: Revises current law to ensure that the children of fiancés of United States citizens will be protected from aging out of eligibility to adjust to conditional resident status by requiring that eligibility determinations are based on the child’s age at the time the U.S. citizen files a petition for classifying the child’s parent as a fiancé or spouse. Eliminates he requirement that stepchildren must have been under the age of 18 at the time the qualifying marriage took place in order to be classified as a child for purposes of immigration eligibility.

Limits on Removal for Parents of U.S. Citizen Children: Permits an immigration judge to decline to order the removal of the parent of U.S. citizen child if the judge determines that removal would not be in the child’s best interests and the parent is not subject to removal based on national security, terrorism or trafficking grounds.

Determinations under the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998: This section amends the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998 (HRIFA) to preserve eligibility for children of applicants based on their age on the date of enactment of HRIFA and permits new applications and motions to reopen on that basis.

Affidavit of Support: Revises the eligibility requirements for sponsorship of immigrants by reducing the level of support required from 125% of poverty level to 100% of poverty level.
Return of Talent Program: Permits lawful permanent residents to temporarily return to their home country to assist in post-conflict or natural disaster reconstruction activities, for up to two years without losing credit towards time as a continuous resident of the U.S. for purposes of applying for naturalization.
Humanitarian Visa Program to Prevent Unauthorized Migration (PUM Visa):
Prevent Unauthorized Migration Visa (PUM Visa) Creates a stop-gap new visa program that will provide for safe, humanitarian migration during the three-year transition period before the implementation of recommendations made by the new Labor Commission.
 One hundred thousand PUM visas will be made available annually, for three years, to persons from sending countries of unauthorized migration to the United States to be distributed on a percentage basis through a lottery system.
 Individuals may apply to the lottery if they are not present in the United States at the time of filing, do not have other family or employment-based means to immigration, submit to criminal background checks, and have completed less than a 4-year college degree program.
 Individuals awarded visas will be admitted to the United States as conditional residents and may petition to remove the condition after three years upon showing they have good moral character, pass all required background and security checks, comply with all tax requirements and other factors, including payment of a $500 fee that will be used to fund security and employment programs.

TITLE IV – EARNED LEGALIZATION PROGRAM FOR THE UNDOCUMENTED

Visa Program for Qualified Undocumented Workers: Creates a program providing conditional nonimmigrant status for undocumented immigrants (and their spouses and children) in the U.S., which is valid for six years.

Features of the Conditional Nonimmigrant Program:
 Provides conditional nonimmigrant visa applicants with work and travel authorization and protection from removal
 Bars related to undocumented status will be waived (security and criminal bars cannot be waived)
 Contains provisions for administrative and judicial review of denied applications

Requirements for Conditional Nonimmigrant Status: The alien must:
 Establish presence in the U.S. on the day of introduction, and continuously thereafter
 At time of registration, attests to contributions to the U.S. through employment, education, military service, or other volunteer/community service (with exemptions for minors, persons with disabilities, the elderly, or other unusual circumstances)
 Complete criminal and security background checks
 Pay a $500 fine plus necessary application fees (fine exemption for children and certain immigrants who initially entered the U.S. before the age of 16)
 The individual shall be ineligible to receive a visa as a result of a serious criminal conviction, persecution of another person or reasonable grounds for believing that the alien committed a particularly serious crime abroad
 There is a penalty of up to five years’ imprisonment for anyone who willfully falsifies information in an application for conditional nonimmigrant status

Adjustment of Status to LPR: Provides qualified conditional nonimmigrants and their spouses and children with an opportunity to apply for lawful permanent resident status (green card) and eventual citizenship.

Features of the Earned Adjustment of Status Program:
 No green cards may be issued under this program earlier than six years after the date of enactment unless existing immigrant backlogs have been cleared before that time
 The Department of State and DHS are required to provide any requesting law enforcement entity with information furnished on an application in connection with a criminal or national security investigation or prosecution
 New penalties for making false statements in an application for earned citizenship are created
 Immigrants who adjust from a conditional nonimmigrant visa (including dependents) to lawful permanent resident status shall not be counted against the worldwide numerical visa caps
 Those appealing decisions associated with the application for adjustment to permanent status have access to a defined administrative and judicial process


Special Rule for Persons Brought to the United States Before the Age of 16: In order to simplify processing of applicants under CIR ASAP, those persons ordinarily covered under the DREAM Act will apply for status through the same program outlined above, with the following special features:
 No fines for persons who were brought to the United States before the age of 16, have resided in the U.S. for at least five years, and were 35 years of age or less
 Such persons will be eligible for accelerated LPR status upon graduation from high school, and completion of two years of college, military service, or employment. Persons granted LPR status under this provision will be eligible for naturalization three years after the date LPR status is granted
 Graduation from a U.S. high school or receipt of an equivalency degree will meet the English proficiency requirement
 Individual states permitted to determine residency requirements for in-state tuition purposes

Requirements for Earned Adjustment: The applicant must:
 Demonstrate contribution to the United States through employment, education, military service, or voluntary or community service, where applicable
 Complete criminal and security background checks
 Establish registration under the Selective Service (if applicable)
 Meet English and civics requirements
 Undergo a medical examination
 Pay all taxes
 Show admissibility to the U.S

Other Provisions in Title IV:
 AgJOBS Act of 2009

TITLE V – STRENGTHENING AMERICA’S WORKFORCE

Title V of CIR ASAP strengthens America’s workforce by reforming the badly-flawed H-1B, H-2B and L-1 visa programs and establishes a Commission on Immigration and Labor Markets to provide researched, unbiased, accurate recommendations for future flows of workers. It also permanently reauthorizes the EB-5 visa program and establishes stricter requirements for employers and recruiters of foreign workers. Title V additionally establishes the American Worker Recruit and Match System which will match qualified individuals with job opportunities in fields that traditionally have relied on unauthorized labor. Furthermore, this title establishes the Security and Prosperity Account which directs funds raised from fines in the earned legalization program to fortify America’s workforce, integrate new Americans and safeguard our borders.

Commission on Immigration and Labor Markets: Title V establishes a new independent federal agency known as the Commission on Immigration and Labor Markets. The Commission will:
 Establish employment based-immigration policies that promote economic growth and competitiveness while minimizing job displacement, wage depression and unauthorized employment
 Create and implement a policy-focused research agenda on the economic impact of immigration on multiple levels
 Collect and analyze information on employment-based immigration and publish the data and analysis
 Recommend to Congress and the President appropriate methods for determining the levels of employment-based immigration and assessing the effects of such immigration as well as the numerical levels and characteristics of procedures for future flows of workers to be admitted into the United States

Security and Prosperity Account: The Security and Prosperity Account is established in Title V to fund efforts to strengthen our workforce, including:
 Grants to states for adult and dislocated worker employment and training activities
 Funding for the Electronic Employment Verification System to ensure that all individuals working in the U.S. are authorized to do so
 Funding for the Commission on Immigration and Labor Markets to provide sound, researched and objective employment based immigration policy
 Dislocated workers assistance national reserve funding
 Establishment of AWRMS programs and funds educational purposes
 Funding to reduce the USCIS visa backlog to ensure a timely and reliable process for all individuals applying for visas and further the integration of new Americas with programs that, for example, facilitate citizenship for legal permanent resident students and create citizenship promotion services
 Funding for border security, detention and enforcement activities

American Worker Recruit and Match System: Title V establishes the American Worker Recruit and Match System (AWRMS), which is an internet-based program that is set up by each State Workforce Agency (SWA) to be incorporated into current Web-based job search engines. AWRMS is a searchable database that allows employers to post job opportunities in fields that have traditionally relied on unauthorized labor. In addition, individuals can post their employment profiles and AWRMS will match employers with qualified individuals.

Protecting Workers: Title V protects foreign workers from exploitation and abuse by ensuring that each prospective employee is provided a written description of the terms of their employment which may not knowingly include any misleading or false information. In addition, each employer must provide to the Secretary of Labor the identity of all recruiters working on their behalf and any possible violations committed by a recruiter. An employer will be held responsible for the actions of a recruiter and may be subject to civil penalties.

H-1B visa program: The current H-1B visa program does not adequately protect American or H-1B workers. Title V reforms the H-1B visa program to:
 Ensure that before an employer can hire an H-1B worker, the employer must meet strict requirements for the recruitment of American workers
 Authorize the Department of Labor (DOL) to initiate investigations into possible fraud and abuse in the absence of a formal complaint and/or the Secretary’s approval.
 Increase penalties for violations
 Authorize the DOL to conduct annual audits of employers that rely heavily on the H-1B program

L-1 visa program: The L-1 visa program is currently vulnerable to fraud and abuse. CIR ASAP authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to audit L-1 visa participants. Penalties will be assessed for violations of the provisions of the L-1 visa program.

H-2B visa program: The H-2B visa program is reformed to prevent the exploitation of H-2B non-immigrants and the depression of wages and other workplace abuses by exploitative employers. Reforms to the program:
 Include stricter requirements for recruitment of American workers
 Prevent employers from participating in the program if they have conducted a mass lay-off in the past year and includes strengthened worker protections

EB-5 Visa program: The EB-5 Visa program is permanently reauthorized within Title V with an increase in available visas to 10,000. It also allows for an expedited processing of petitions for a fee of $2,500. The definition of Targeted Employment Area (TEA) is expanded to include:
 Rural areas,
 High-unemployment areas
 Counties with a 20 percent or more population decrease since 1970
 Areas within the boundaries of state or federal economic development incentive programs
 Areas designated as TEAs by a state agency authorized by the Governor
 Areas designated as TEAs during the two year period before visa application
In addition, Title V requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to study and report on the current job creation counting methodology and how to promote the employment creation program to overseas investors. Lastly it creates a new category of job-producing foreigners eligible for visas: venture capitalist seeking a Founder’s visa.

TITLE VI – INTEGRATION OF NEW AMERICANS

Immigration Fees: Immigration fees have risen steeply in the past decade. Title VI will ensure that future fee increase requests receive closer scrutiny than provided by the largely perfunctory regulatory public comment process. Title VI incorporates and expands on provisions of the Citizenship Promotion Act of 2007 to make citizenship more accessible and affordable. This title:
 Provides for greater transparency for immigration application fees and encourages a uniform process to submit fee waiver applications
 Provides for uniform administration of the naturalization exam
 Promotes citizenship of the elderly by adjusting the age requirements for English language exemption

Improving the Naturalization Process: The process for naturalization is lengthy and difficult to navigate. Title VI creates reforms that encourage citizenship among immigrant communities. This section requires timely response on background checks and evaluates their efficiency. In addition, this title includes a grant program for community based organizations to promote and help immigrants prepare for citizenship. These grants in support of naturalization efforts will assist legal permanent residents with:
 English language and citizenship classes
 Legal assistance
 Community outreach activities
 Assisting aliens with applications for citizenship

Integration Grant Programs:
Title VI includes a grant program for education, training and support efforts relating to the provisions of the CIR ASAP Act, including protections from immigration fraud and the availability of benefits provided by the act. Provisions ensure that to the extent possible, the nonprofit community organizations receiving grants serve geographically diverse and ethnically diverse locations.

USCIS Grant Program: Title VI establishes a grant program within USCIS that provides funding to community-based organizations, including community-based legal service organizations, as appropriate, to develop and implement programs to assist eligible applicants for naturalization. Grants provided for in Title VI will be funded through fees and fines deposited in the Security and Prosperity Account.

Initial Entry, Adjustment, and Citizenship Assistant Grant Program: Title VI establishes the Initial Entry, Adjustment and Citizenship Assistance Grant Program. IEACA grants will be awarded to community-based organizations for the design and implementation of programs to provide the following services:
 Assistance and instruction, including legal assistance, to aliens making initial application for conditional nonimmigrant or conditional nonimmigrant dependent classification
 Assistance and instruction, including legal assistance, to aliens seeking to adjust their status
 Assistance and instruction to applicants on the rights and responsibilities of US citizenship and English language proficiency

Improving Naturalization for Legal Permanent Residents: Facilitates citizenship among Legal Permanent Resident students that want to naturalize. Legal Permanent Resident students will be deemed to have satisfied the language and civics requirements for naturalization if they are able to demonstrate they graduated high school after completing grades 6 through 12 in the United States and the curriculum reflects knowledge of U.S. history, Government, and civics.

Strengthening Communities: Title VI strengthens and unites communities by creating incentives for English language acquisition programs. Creates tax credits for teachers in limited English proficient schools. Provides employers with a tax credit for qualified English language education programs. Authorizes states to form State New American Councils comprised of 15-19 individuals from state and local government, business and community organizations.

Celebrating Citizenship: Title VI celebrates the citizenship of new Americans and encourages these individuals to integrate into their communities. It provides for the availability of funds to the Director of USCIS or to approved public or private nonprofit entities to support public ceremonies for administering oaths of allegiance to naturalizing legal immigrants. Independence Day naturalization ceremonies include appropriate outreach, ceremonial, and celebratory activities. This program shall be funded through fees and fines deposited in the Security and Prosperity Account.

Tomorrow, December 15, I will join the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and my colleagues in the House of Representatives in introducing a progressive, compassionate and comprehensive immigration reform bill.

Every single day in America, families are being divided. Over the past year, I’ve traveled across the country with my colleagues conducting something called the United Families (”Familias Unidas”) tour. In twenty-four cities across the country, we heard from families who were being ripped apart by the current system. We’ve heard stories from a father dying from cancer whose wife faced deportation. We’ve heard from American citizen children who are faced with choosing between their parents and a college education.
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This is a crisis. It’s a crisis of human and civil rights, it’s a crisis of our economy and our workforce, and it’s a crisis of national security. This is why we cannot wait any longer. The Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity (CIR ASAP) Act of 2009 is a solution that we, as a nation of immigrants, can be proud of.

We’ve waited a long time for this — a workable solution to our immigration crisis.

We’ve waited for laws that don’t stop at securing our border, but go further to secure our economy, protect our workforce and recognize the proud tradition of immigrants seeking the American Dream. We’ve waited for it to be taken up by this Congress and our President. And the time for waiting is over.

Our bill will be presented before Congress heads home for the holidays so that there is no excuse for inaction in the New Year.

CIR ASAP prioritizes the best of what our nation values: family, civil rights, economic opportunity and diversity. It is the product of months of collaboration with human rights advocates, labor organizations, and members of Congress. Already, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and members of the Congressional Black Caucus have endorsed it as a solution to both stem illegal immigration and promote legal migration that will protect and strengthen our nation’s economic and national security.

During the campaign, Barack Obama made a commitment to push for real, comprehensive immigration reform. As President, he’s reaffirmed that promise to the nation and to me personally. I’m also very encouraged by the support of Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid. I intend to work with them and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to make sure that promises made to the American people are promises kept.

We are a proud nation of immigrants from around the globe, and with this legislation, we will be able to once again be proud of our immigration laws. I don’t think you will find too many people who would tell you that our current immigration system is working. Everyone, regardless of their position on this issue, agrees that the system should be overhauled.

The American people elected us to solve problems like this – and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

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Thank, You, Reform2010.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently announced an additional round of employer I-9 immigration audits, including 42 in Houston and 161 in Texas overall. The announcement demonstrates the Obama administration’s desire to seek solutions and yet also reflects our broken immigration system. In recent years, immigration has polarized the American public and our elected representatives; the issue affects many and in Texas it affects us all. Deportation of an estimated 8.3 million undocumented workers is unrealistic and amnesty is not viable.

Let’s look at the reality of the situation for Houston and our surrounding communities. Estimates from the Pew Hispanic Center and confirmed by our own Greater Houston Partnership indicate that there are approximately 1.3 million undocumented workers in Texas.

The best way to understand the impact of the pending audits is to look at our undocumented population and divide them into two groups.

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The first is made up of the undocumented who work for companies that have complied with the law. These companies fill out I-9s on every appropriate employee, pay applicable payroll taxes, workmen’s compensation and in many cases offer benefits like health care, pay for time off, and make matching contributions to 401(K) accounts. In most cases, these employees circumvented the system by adopting someone else’s Social Security number, using a fraudulent card that to an average American looks real. This practice has been going on since the Immigration Reform Act of 1986 made the Social Security card the “national worker ID.”

The second group is in the underground economy. It includes day laborers or employees whose employers classify them as independent subcontractors. Most are paid in cash and few pay any kind of payroll tax. They also work without workmen’s compensation and when injured, find their way to our emergency rooms. They do not have I-9s identifying them, nor do they enjoy the protection of our country’s wage and hour laws. Let me add that as an advocate of social justice, I am convinced these workers choose to work in this system because it’s their only option. They risk their lives to get here and have no legal options under the current law.

Regardless of how you feel about these workers, there is one thing no one can refute. As audits increase and recommended use of DHS’s Internet-based E-Verify system becomes a reality, more undocumented workers presently employed by legitimate employers will find their way into the second group.

No, they won’t return to their home countries. They own homes, have children in our schools and are part of our community. What they will do is find a way to survive. They will work for cash, labor for long hours with no overtime pay, and be subject to employers who might not pay them. This only puts more strain on our public hospitals, school infrastructure and social service agencies.
I find it hard to fault the Department of Homeland Security. As former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff told a group of us last year, our government enforces the laws as written. What we need is sensible immigration reform that deals with our broken system.

We can continue to ignore the impact on our community, which is horrific, or we can do something about it.

With neither amnesty nor deportation as an option, what is the middle ground? The Greater Houston Partnership, through its affiliate Americans for Immigration Reform, proposes these measures: First, secure our borders. Second, identify every undocumented worker, require criminal background checks and mandate that all employees, including citizens, have a tamper-proof identification card that works with E-Verify.

The majority of presently undocumented workers should be working for an employer and paying taxes, not working as independent subcontractors. Reforming our laws requires a worker program and a realistic policy to deal with the undocumented workers already here in America who contribute to our economic prosperity.

Texas ranks second only to California in the number of undocumented workers. The current census of students in our Texas schools stands at 4,656,516. Of those, 2,193,345 are of Hispanic descent. Those with limited English number 774,719. Estimates are that there are 3.5 million American-born children with one or more undocumented parents in our country. Many live in Texas. What will be the impact of our current immigration policy on our next generation of Texans?

Like it or not, this is the current situation. To do nothing will be a mistake that will only cause our present problems to get worse for years to come.

Please write your elected officials to settle this issue now. We can’t wait any longer.